The headline for this apartment was, at the time of my booking, “Stunning 2 Bedroom Penthouse” and the subtitle is:
Amazing 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom penthouse with spiral staircase, walk-in wardrobe, washing machine & rooftop swimming pool in the heart of Thong Lo area in central Bangkok.
There is a 24 hour supermarket next door and in the apartment building itself are restaurants,beauty salon,spa,massage,Muay Thai gym,mini mart & dry cleaners.
Then,within a minutes walk are the buzzing bars,restaurants,cafe's & shops of the Thong Lo area.
I am not surprised that some guests entered and left immediately. The headline and descirption misrepresents the apartment. While it is a top-floor apartment, the title “penthouse” seems (when taken with all other factors) to be deliberately misleading, overselling the unit significantly. It’s an OK place- a bargaiin at half or 2/3 of the price. But not as represented. Pictures are clearly old, and some listing informaiton is inaccurate. Overall the place needs an upgrade or at least diligent maintenance, which is sometimes hard to come by in Bangkok.
First, for the parts of the listing that are out of date or incorrect.
(1) The only walk-in wardrobe in the apartment is (deliberately) blocked by a dressing table and not accessible to guests. This is not as pictured in the listing. I don’t blame the host for closing it off to keep their stuff safe, but it should not be represented as available. There is no closet in the main bedroom as a result.
(2) The 24 hour supermarket next door is permanently closed and has been torn out. There is a mini-mart close by, but again, should not be represented as such.
(3) *The furniture is not as presented in the photos. Tables are scuffed and degraded. Especially the white furniture looks run down.
Second, the place needs serious maintenance.
*The downstairs air conditioner took several tries to get working. The unit is not adequate to cool the downstairs. The remote needs to be replaced as the LED read-out is damaged. This is Bangkok. You can’t have weak or bad A/C. AC in the bedrooms upstairs is better.
*The laundry machine (washer) shut down mid-cycle the first time I used it and I had to manually drain and re-wash the clothes. Not how I wanted to spend my holiday.
*On the 2nd day the hot water heater putzed out. Had to contact the friendly host for instructions on how to re-start.
*One front door lock is loose and the other is non-functional. The top lock feels like it will come right out of the door. The bottom lock does not open with a key. Not reassruing.
*The bathroom sink faucet is loose and “wobbly.”
*Kitchen equipment not fit for purpose. Scissors don’t work, knives don’t cut. Etc.
Any one of these complaints woudl be nit-picking, but in total, they reveal an apartment that has been rented too many times without serious maintenance, and which is more cheaply furnished than what one would expect from a “stunning penthouse.” Decent view, but not correctly represented and in need of some TLC.